by R. W. Peake
She thought about this for a moment before grudgingly nodding her head, but before I could cross into the vestibule, the normal place for visitors to wait, the door was slammed shut in my face. The look of shock on my face caused Gisela to giggle, which she tried to stifle with limited success, only serving to increase my irritation. When I scowled at her, it only caused the laughter to tumble from her and despite myself, I started laughing too. We were still in this state when the door creaked open and the crone reappeared, this time making no attempt to hide her discomfort.
“I am sorry Master Titus, but my orders remain the same. Master Vibius is not receiving visitors.”
“I’m not a visitor, damn you,” I barked, causing her to visibly shrink in fear, only making me angrier, but at myself. Standing there for a moment without any idea what to do, I was then struck by an inspiration and reached into my pouch, withdrawing a gold denarius and waving it in front of her. “Old Mater, I understand that you can’t let me in. But you know who I am, you know I’m not only Vibius’ oldest friend, but I’m also his commanding officer. So you can at least tell me what in Hades is going on, can’t you?”
She stared at the denarius, the battle within her showing clearly on her face, and as usual, greed won out. With a speed that would make a Legionary proud, her hand snatched the coin from mine.
“There will be no wedding,” she announced, and she could not have shocked us more if she had set herself afire in front of our eyes. I glanced over at Gisela, who looked just as surprised and speechless as I felt. Finally, I managed to splutter out, “What kind of joke is this? This has been arranged for years! What happened?”
The crone shrugged. “The lady,” and her emphasis on that term conveyed her feeling that Juno was anything but, “has married another man.”
My shock deepened, as did my confusion. “How could that be? Vibius and she had been communicating for years, and believe me, I would have known of such a thing because he would have told me.”
“He would have told you,” the crone agreed, “if he'd known the truth.”
Gisela moved next to me, as rapt in her attention to the woman as I was. Seeing that she had a spellbound audience the crone warmed to the task, first taking a fearful glance over her shoulder then stepping outside, pulling the door closed behind her.
“The lady never told Master Vibius the truth that about a year ago she fell in love with another. They kept their love a secret; nobody knew about it or we would have let Master Vibius know.”
“But how could Juno do that to Vibius?” I demanded, my own anger at what she had done surprising me. And Gisela did not miss it either, her eyes narrowing in suspicion, though I was too far gone at that moment to care much.
“Because she’s a weakling and a fool,” the crone spat, and for a moment we stood silently, sharing in our mutual loathing for someone who betrayed someone we cared about.
“When did Vibius find out?” Gisela asked.
“Not until three days ago,” the crone replied.
“Three days ago! We’ve been home for more than a week! How did she avoid telling him for so long?” I was completely mystified.
“Oh, the usual ways a woman uses when she doesn't want to see a man. She claimed to be ill, to be having female troubles, but it wasn’t until Master Vibius finally went to her house and more or less broke down the door and confronted her that the truth came out.”
“What happened?” I asked. “He didn’t hurt anybody, did he?”
She shook her head. “No, it was even worse than that. Paulus, one of the house servants who went with him said it was like all the life went out of him. He didn’t do anything, he didn’t say anything. He just turned and left. He came back to the house, locked himself in his room, and he’s been there ever since.”
“He didn’t……….” I almost could not bring myself to say it aloud, but I still had to know, “…..cry, did he? I mean,” I said hastily when I heard Gisela’s snort of anger, “in front of her?”
She shook her head again. “No, he kept his dignitas; at least until he got home. Then he howled like Cerberus gone mad all night long and into the next day before the poor thing finally lost his voice.”
I did not know what to say; selfishly, this had as much of an impact on my life in some ways as it did Vibius. Gisela would not have a companion to help her when her time came, yet I could not begin to imagine how Vibius was feeling, and in turn I felt totally helpless. I thanked the crone, who disappeared back inside the house. Turning to Gisela, I said, “We need to go get a room at the inn. I don’t think we’re going to be staying here.”
The gods have a sense of humor, I have always believed that, but I have also learned that it is usually a cruel one, and it was at this moment they chose to play a little prank on Gisela and me as we walked to the inn. We were just approaching the forum, with Gisela and I completely engrossed in conversation about what we had just learned, so that when we turned the corner and almost bumped into two people, it was not particularly surprising that we did not notice them. But when I turned away from Gisela to excuse ourselves, I found myself staring into a familiar pair of eyes, open wide in what was clearly as much fear as surprise, eyes that I first gazed into on a dusty day long ago after rescuing my best friend from a bucket of cac. Both of us stood stock still, and while my eyes never left her face, my mind registered a figure standing next to her, a man a few inches shorter than me, which was not unusual, but of almost as muscular a build as me, which was. Nevertheless, my eyes never left Juno’s, so I do not know how long we stood there before her mouth actually produced an intelligible sound.
“Sa..sa..salve, Titus,” she stammered, then before she could say another word, I felt my own come tumbling out.
“How could you do this to Vibius, you…….whore?”
I did not even know I was going to say it, and the instant the word came out she looked like I slapped her, and I heard Gisela gasp behind me. However, it was the man with her, who I assumed was the bastard who had stolen her, that took a menacing step towards me, his hand moving to a civilian dagger at his belt. Before either of us knew what was happening my hand, as if possessing a mind of its own, grasped the hilt of my sword, pulling it in one smooth motion and placing the tip of the blade against the man’s throat, my arm held straight out. All it would take was not much more than a twitch of my shoulder and the blade would punch through his throat. A part of me was grimly amused at the idea that here I was on only my second visit home, and I was already about to kill someone else. For his part, the man did the right thing, standing completely motionless, all hint of aggression gone from his face and body.
“Titus, please, I beg you don't kill Quintus. He’s my husband! I can’t tell you how horrible I feel…..” I must say that the fear I heard in Juno's voice was quite satisfying.
“Shut up,” I told her quietly. “Let the men talk.”
Locking my gaze with Quintus, I took his measure, while he took mine, and I saw with some sadness that there was not much there that I thought worthy. Oh, he was strong enough physically; I learned that he was a smith, actually running a very successful business with several apprentices and journeymen under him. But there was no spark there, no anger at having a blade at his throat, no hint of defiance that told me that while I may have gotten the best of him that moment, he would not forget and I would have to look over my shoulder the rest of my life. Instead, there was just the naked fear that a civilian has for a trained soldier, and I would be lying if I said I did not savor the moment.
“So, Quintus is it? Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you, Quintus. You stole the woman of my best friend, you ruined his life.” I sighed, shaking my head in mock sorrow, “I must be getting old and soft because by rights your head should be rolling at my feet right now. So give me a reason why I shouldn’t avenge him this very moment.”
“Please sir,” he posessed what I thought was a whining quality to his voice, but was actually a bit lower pitched than mine, th
ough it may have been due to the circumstances of the moment, “I didn’t mean your friend any harm. I only recently came to Astigi to start my own smithy, so I didn’t know beforehand that she had ever been involved with someone else. In truth, I didn’t even know she was betrothed for some time after we met, and by the time I knew, well,” he ended with a shrug.
I turned to look at Juno, surprised by what I had just heard. “Is that true, Juno? You didn’t tell Quintus here that you had sworn an oath to be true to Vibius?”
Juno refused to meet my gaze, looking at the ground, her shoulders hunched in misery as tears started flowing down her cheeks. For a moment she did not speak, then spoke in a small voice, “I was confused Titus. I didn’t know what to do. I had waited so long, and I was so lonely………”
Now I felt real anger stirring in me. “You were lonely?” I spat. “And you think Vibius wasn’t? Do you know he never took a woman, even for a night, because he loved you so much?”
Despite this not being the exact truth, it was near enough as far as I was concerned, because Vibius certainly never had a lasting relationship with any woman. Now Juno broke out into open sobs, and despite not wanting it to I felt my anger soften a bit; it was clear that Juno was feeling some sort of pain and remorse. Nevertheless, I still felt like I had not done enough for Vibius.
“So how many other men have you been with, whore? How will Quintus ever be able to trust you knowing what you did to Vibius?” I said this both for Quintus and for Juno, although it was more to hurt Juno than anything, but I saw that my words scored a hit on Quintus, his expression immediately changing. It was clear he had never thought about this, yet now that I planted the seed, I knew it would take root and grow, and he would never look the same at Juno again. It did not feel as good as I thought it would, but I had already uttered the words, so it was too late to bring them back now. Juno, if it were possible, looked even more hurt and wounded than she had a moment before. Despite the look on her face, I am a professional, and have learned to finish the job even if I find it distasteful, so while I found I was losing the taste for this, I was determined to deliver the killing blow.
“Know this, Juno. I’m not a religious man but I’m going to make an offering to Dis to curse this marriage, and to your namesake Juno, as well as to Lucina that you’re barren and bear no children. I wish on you nothing but pain and sorrow for what you did to Vibius, who was more true and faithful to you than you obviously deserved. As of this moment, you’re dead to me.”
I turned to Quintus. “Quintus, I bear you no real malice, but know this. The next time I see you, you better run the other way, because I'll kill you where you stand.”
Without another word, I grabbed Gisela’s hand and pushed past them, leaving Juno standing white-faced and trembling in fear, with Quintus in much the same condition.
For a few moments, neither of us spoke as my temper cooled, before Gisela finally said quietly, “Remind me never to make you truly angry.”
Gisela and I spent several more days in the inn, and every day I would go to the house, only to be told that Vibius was not accepting visitors. Finally, I had enough, waiting only long enough for the crone to intone the by-now familiar words before I roughly pushed past her to enter the house. On this day I decided to wear my uniform, so that Vibius’ family would know that I was here on official business as Vibius’ commanding officer and not as his friend. I did not take this action lightly, because I knew that it was going to cause perhaps an irreparable rift, if not with Vibius himself, then his family. His mother was standing in the main room, alerted to my intrusion by the sound of the crone’s calls for help that someone had broken into the house. She was clutching a kitchen knife, a defiant yet fearful look on her face, but when she recognized me she sagged in relief.
“Titus Pullus, you nearly scared me to death,” she gasped, clutching her heart.
However, I did not smile, or try to give her any comfort in any way; I had hardened my heart to do what I needed to do. “I’m here on official business, Domitia,” I was using what I thought of as my professional voice, which had the desired effect.
The smile froze on her face, the impact of my words sinking in. “Wha…what does that mean, Titus?”
“It means I’m here to fetch Sergeant Domitius back to return to the Legions. Our leave is almost up, and we’ll have to hurry to get back to the Legion on time. We can delay no longer.”
“But he’s not ready to travel, Titus,” she protested, making a move to block my way when I began to move towards Vibius’ room.
Staring down at her, I held my gaze until her defiance withered under my glare. “Don’t try and stop me, Domitia. I’m doing what's best for Vibius.”
“You’re doing what’s best for yourself, Titus,” she hissed, her anger and mother’s instinct getting the better of her composure. “You don’t care a rotten fig for Vibius, it’s your precious career that means more to you, and that’s the only reason why you’re here.”
My surprise at her words evidently was written on my face, because it clearly gave her courage. “Oh yes, don’t think I don’t know. Vibius has been writing for years, and he told us how you turned your back on him to pursue your precious career, so don’t pretend that you care what happens to him now.”
I felt like I was struck in the gut, but falling back on the discipline instilled by my years in the Legion, I kept my face a cold mask. “If what you say is true, then you know that I’ll stop at nothing to bring Vibius back,” I replied coolly, stepping past her to walk to Vibius’ room. Without bothering to knock, I kicked the door open, causing a satisfying crash as it flew against the wall. The room was dark and stank to high heaven, and I could just make out a lump lying in a bed in the corner that scarcely stirred at the noise.
“Sergeant Domitius, on your feet,” I roared, but I was rewarded only with a slight movement. Once my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I walked over to the bed, seeing just the top of Vibius’ head poking out from underneath the covers. Kicking the foot of the bed with my boot, I was rewarded with a low groan.
“Go away Titus, I don’t want to talk to you.”
“There’s no Titus here,” I told him coldly, “and you’ll get on your feet when addressing your senior Centurion.”
I had hoped that this would be enough to give Vibius the needed impetus to get up, but he had always been stubborn. “Don’t pull rank on me,” his voice was muffled by the covers, yet I could hear plainly enough the beginnings of anger in his voice. Good, I thought, that's a start. Instead of kicking the bed again, I reached down, grabbing one corner to give it a good yank, turning the mattress over and dumping Vibius out on the floor. His nightclothes were stained with wine and I did not want to speculate what else, yet he got to his feet quickly enough, letting out a huge roar of anger as he turned on me. Before he could get any closer, I lashed out with my vitus, striking him hard in the ribs, causing him to gasp with pain. Despite the blow he kept his feet. Any other man would have buckled under that, I thought with some pride, but not Vibius. For his part, it just made him angrier and he charged at me headlong, his speed once again catching me by surprise. Even as I fell backwards, I thought with some chagrin that I always forgot how fast he really was. Tumbling into a heap on the floor, the combination of my armor and the weight of his body forced the air from my lungs in an explosive gasp. Encouraged by this sound, Vibius began to thrash at me, but I was able to block most of the blows with my arms, although a couple landed along my body, sending shafts of pain shooting through me. I was content to let him tire himself out and was glad to see that at least the slack living and moping about had sapped his conditioning, because it was only a few moments before I felt his strength flagging. Once he paused, I heaved him off of me, throwing him across the room while leaping to my feet, crossing to him before he could recover. I did not use my fists, because that would have been personal, instead thrashing him with my vitus, using it like he was a tiro in his first month of training and I did no
t stop until he was curled up in a ball, trying to protect himself. Finally finished I stood panting over him, and said harshly, “I won’t enter this into the official record Sergeant, since you know the penalty for striking a superior officer is running the gauntlet, followed by crucifixion,” I heard his mother gasp at this, “but I’m not going to tell you again. We’re leaving to return back to the Legion in a third of a watch. I expect you to be standing outside this house, fully packed and in full uniform, ready to go. Do you understand me?”
It seemed like forever, but was probably only a few heartbeats before he answered, “Yes, Pilus Prior. I understand. And I will obey.”
I grunted. “Very good. Now,” I turned to leave, “clean yourself up and say goodbye to your family. The 10th is waiting for us.”
Ignoring his mother’s poisonous stare as I left his room, I exited the house. I knew that there was a good chance that our friendship was now ruined beyond repair. But Vibius’ mother was right; I would not jeopardize my career for anything, or anyone.
It would be a lie if I said that I was not a little surprised to see Vibius standing outside his house, pale and looking haggard, but in an immaculate uniform. The servants must have been jumping through their own assholes, I thought wryly when Gisela and I pulled up in the wagon. This was the first that Gisela had seen Vibius since we learned of Juno’s betrayal, and I was glad that only I heard her sharp intake of breath at the sight of him.
The moment we pulled up, Vibius snapped to intente¸ giving his best parade ground salute, intoning in the expressionless voice that all rankers use to let their superiors know what they truly thought of them, “Good morning Pilus Prior.”
Then, with a shade more warmth he turned and said, “Good morning Gisela.”
“Good morning, Vibius,” Gisela replied in a cheerful tone that I recognized was forced, although Vibius did not seem to notice. “Lovely day to start back, don’t you think?”